Sandalwood Farming

Is It legal to grow/sell Sandalwood? Does Govt Of India permit this?

Is It legal to grow/sell Sandalwood? Does Govt Of India permit this?

Sandalwood trees were the property of the government for years, but now the rule has changed. As per the Section 108 of the Karnataka Forest (Amendment) Act 2001, sandalwood tree grown in a specific land is the property of the owner of the land. Hence, anybody can grow sandalwood without any apprehensions.The government is also giving subsidy to grow sandalwood through State Medicinal Plants Authority and Horticulture Department.

Kindly check the proofs provided below:

The Karnataka Forest Amendment Act of 2001- Sandalwood

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Is it possible to harvest Sandalwood in 15 years as we heard it takes around 35 - 40

Is it possible to harvest Sandalwood in 15 years as we heard it takes around 35 - 40 years?

So far we have only heard and known Sandalwood which was naturally grown in the forest atmosphere. Sandalwood is a semi parasite crop and depends on host plants for most of its nutrients, this is not readily available in the forest and therefore the growth takes time. Adding to this is the Govt policy which restricts living trees being cut down in Forests. Only dead Sandalwood trees in forests can be taken for production.

However, the scenario in organized cultivation is different. Host plants, water and fertilizer management are properly done to ease Sandalwood’s growth thus achieving optimum output within 15 years.

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What is the plan/proposal of Siri Agri Group?

What is the plan/proposal of Siri Agri Group?

Siri Agri Group is an 100% Agro based company and consists a team of Scientists, Biologists , horticulturists and farmers with 40 + years of experience in Sandalwood cell biology. We intend to do collective farming of Indian Sandalwood (Santalum album)in huge volumes. Agriculture is our teams passion and Sandalwood is our area of expertise.

When farming is done in an collective manner and in huge volumes the cost incurred to involve latest technology, equipments and expertise comes down.This is what Australia has been doing and is now supplying Indian Sandalwood to India.

Australia is doing farming of Indian Sandalwood involving Indian Scientists ( Dr.H S Anantha Padmanabha & Team) and selling it back to India which is a very alarming scenario. India has the best suitable environment to grow Indian Sandalwood. Until now we were hand-bound as Indian law did not allow individuals to grow Sandalwood however with the amendment of this law we as a company intend to do Sandalwood farming. Dr.H S Anantha Padmanabha the same scientist who has successfully done this plantation in many countries including Australia and in over 35,000 acres of land is now the Chief Executive Scientist (CES) of Siri Agri Group.As a company Siri Agri Group can independently do Sandalwood farming however only upto an limited extent. As mentioned earlier, to bring down the cost and to do an optimum utilization of this rich resource found within India we as a company have to do it in large volumes and the best way to do this is by involving individuals as a team and increasing the area of cultivation.

It takes time, money and expertise to do Sandalwood farming. We intend to contribute time & expertise and invite individuals who have the passion for farming to invest as per their financial capacity. The rich yield from Sandalwood to be shared on 50:50 ratio thus justifying both the investors & the experts.

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What are the risks involved in Sandalwood plantation?

What are the risks involved in Sandalwood plantation and how does Siri Agri Group take care of these risks?

This is a very important Question we request investors to read it thoroughly

Climate:

K Muralidhar Reddy (Acharya) Designation with Siri Agri Group: Executive Environmental Scientist who is a Master of Science (environmental science & engineering) from University of Maryland College Park, MD,USA handles the needs of environmental changes and its effects in our projects.

b) The current project involves plantation of 1,12,500 trees which naturally decreases the environmental temperature upto 9 degree Celsius compared to the natural temperature thus ensuring that even in peak summer the temperature in the farms never exceed 40 degree Celsius.

c) The selected project area and its surroundings has never experienced extreme wind or cyclones however as a contingency planning the initial saplings are planted with the support of 6 ft rods/bamboo sticks to avoid getting uprooted.

Diseases:

Siri Agri Group stands incomparable from the other on this very important risk factor. There are about 150 diseases/insects effecting Sandalwood saplings (If you want a complete description of the diseases and their cure click here ) however 99% of them are eradicated in the one year’s duration in the nursery specially maintained for our group. Post one year of nursery maintenance saplings are handpicked for farm cultivation. During the growth tenure one has to take special care of insects like defoliators, sapsuckers, stem borers and termites. The role of sap sucking pests belonging to the family Coccidae is very deleterious to the normal health, growth and reproduction of sandalwood plants specially as this are invisible to human naked eye and cannot be identified easily.

Water availability/ drought :

Mr S V L Prasad who is currently working as Manager Horticulture of the Taj West End (Taj Group Hotels) Bangalore handles the horticulture department of Siri Agri Group.

a) Sandalwood trees consume minimal water for its growth when compared to its counterparts. The trees need watering only 5 months in a year and at the intervals of 14 days each.

b) The current project has water availability from 9 ft onwards. Bore-wells dug in the farm are done after a firm geological survey and are dug almost 10 times more than the current water availability.

c) As a contingency planning ground water recharging module is implemented wherein water beds are prepared within the entire farm by digging wells upto 30 feet and filling them with layers of rocks and sand beds.

d) As the last resort, in case of failure of all the above planning, water can be availed on subsidy from the Government canal which runs within our project.

Soil fertility :

a) The land selected for plantation go through proper soil test for their PH value. The current project at Aleru has been selected post these tests. Even in scenarios where the ph value reduces interim , our scientists have identified artificial means of substituting it.

b) The initial test have proved Aleru and surroundings to be very fertile for Sandalwood cultivation specially (santalum album)

c) The surrounding have living sandalwood trees aged 4-6 years in the surroundings proving its capability to cultivate Sandalwood.

Mortality/Failure % :

Let us give you an example of what we are trying to say : let's say you have been assigned a project in hand and as per your analysis your target profit from that project is Rs 1000 and the cost to do the project is Rs 100. When you know the outcome ratio is huge when compared to the cost then it doesn’t make sense to compromise on the quality or cost which the project needs to complete successfully and risk/reduce the output.

At Siri Agri Group we handle this factor professionally without compromising as we are 50% share holders of the profit. The common mortality rate in our project is upto 18% which we try to further bring down by following the below mentioned parameters :

a) Siri Agri Group has a independent seed orchard designed to improve the genetics of the seed stock to produce trees of the highest quality. Superior trees are selected based on growth characteristics and oil content. These are then control pollinated to produce seed for use in the project.

b) The saplings from this seeds are then grown in nursery for a period of 12 months before planting it into the cultivation area to further reduce the count of dead, week, infertile and impotent trees.

c) Further, the hand pick saplings are planted in the cultivation area and back-up saplings are still maintained on a 100 : 3 ratio to further replace dead trees by replanting until the fourth year. Mr S V L Prasad who is a member of Siri Agri Group specializes in re-plantation of trees.

d) Trees planted in the cultivation area are supported with rod/bamboo sticks till the 4 year to help its roots gain ground support.

Fire:

Fire normally happens in an unattended surroundings such as in wild forests. However, Siri Agri Group has understood the damage capacity of such untoward incidents and has planned well in advance.

a) The first contingency planning is done by constructing an boundary thus reducing the risk of intentional planned fire outages done on purpose.

b) The entire farms are sealed with single point entry system into the cultivation area wherein the staff/guest are frisked for security check.

d) The drip system adopted by Siri Agri Group are equipped with heat sensors which automatically start sprinkling at their top capacity when there is a sudden change in the temperature. This acts like a fire extinguisher.

e) The entire farm is well planned with approach roads for a fire- brigade vehicle to reach any point without hindrance.

f) The permanent staff stationed at the project are trained/equipped to handle minor fire hazards.

Theft:

Sandalwood theft starts from the 6th year as the tree starts showing traces of oil content and therefore we have made adequate precautions for the same. Siri Agri Group spends upto 36 % of the entire project budget on security.

a) A very important point to be noted is the GO passed by Govt of India. As per the GO, the individual/company possessing/farming Sandalwood trees is/are the absolute owners of the same and can enjoy the outcome of Sandalwood without restrictions. Earlier smuggling/theft prevailed as Sandalwood was considered as govt property and individuals possessing it were under illegal possession.

b) 7ft walls for the entire farm with 2ft of Solar fencing form the 1st level of security making it a single point entry and a secured gated farming module.

c) The entire inner layer within the boundary walls are once again sealed with a security software which has been specially designed for Siri Agri Group ( Security software companies name and details will not be disclosed for security reasons.)

(i) This software security walls are designed to alert any changes in the continuity of the security chain I.E in case of any breakage at any point of the wall the security software senses the breakage and alerts.

(ii) Sensing of human penetration by sensing heat.

d) 24x7 security personnel staff which would be increased as per requirement and the growing age of the plant.

e) The security staff stationed at the project is shuffled every 11 months as to avoid any local contact.

f) Full time dog squad management from the 7th year as a contingency planning.

j) All above mentioned security activities to be outsourced to different vendors for a maximum period of 24 months without any scope of agreement renewals.

k) Inserting of RF Ids (Radio Frequency Ids ) in the stem of all Sandalwood trees at the age of four which is invisible to naked eyes however can trace the transportation of logs in worst to worst scenarios.

Loss of key role personnel:

Siri Agri Group's management team realizes that a long term project needs proper planning this includes back-up planning for the key role personnel. Our projects are carefully planned reducing the dependency on single individual/s by transferring knowledge to the next generation. We have a team of 12 interns from various agricultural universities who are full time employees of Siri Agri Group and have undergone complete training in handling the crop module designed in case of any unforeseen events.

Demand and Supply :

With the GO being realized its very obvious for individuals to take up Sandalwood farming and we at Siri Agri Group invite healthy competitors as we are strongly working towards the restoration of Indian Sandalwood within India. Demand would never be effected as right on date Sandalwood needs 80,000 hectares of cultivation to effect its current demand and this demand is increasing at 18% per annum.

Insolvency of Siri Agri Group:

a) Siri Agri Group is a well planned establishment with strong financial background. As a company we have the financial capabilities of doing Independent farming without external funding.

b) The project is planned to be self funded for all its maintenance costs as Sandalwood farming needs host plants at various levels which manage continuous funding for management.

c) The project design is so made that the funding for END to END farming is collected from the investors right in the beginning to overcome any cash delinquencies from the investors.

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How do you claim to provide maximum Security & Returns for my investments?

How do you claim to provide maximum Security & Returns for my investments?

To confirm that we provide maximum security & returns for your investment we need to first understand what is the real meaning of risk. Risk is the potential that a chosen action or activity will/might lead to a loss and in our case the risk in discussion is your initial investment.

Risk in our case can happen if the initial purchase price is not justifiable. If Sandalwood cannot fetch in crores . If our team does not expertise in cultivating Sandalwood and If Siri Agri Group abandons the project in between.

Risk of Initial Investment : This risk prevails till the investment amount is not secured I.E if you are investing @ Rs 165 per SqYd can liquidation value (that is if this property is disposed) get you Rs 165 atleast. Siri Agri Group guaranties this factor by selling the project at the base price and adopting the “STEP-UP” pricing module.

Risk when compared : Once you are confirmed that your property can fetch the invested amount + atleast Rs 1 added ( I.e if you purchase it at Rs 165 per SqYd and it can fetch atleast Rs 166 per SqYd) the risk with comparison starts. Like, what would it fetch if you had invested it elsewhere. Sandalwood Farming returns ratio is 1:50. means, it has the capacity of fetching Rs 50 for evey rupee invested and is way above any available market option.

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What is “STEP-UP” pricing module and how does it helps customers?

What is “STEP-UP” pricing module and how does it helps customers?

A project needs investor’s funding right from the initial stage however different investors need different security levels to help them understand and feel secured to invest in any project.
(a) Few want to know as to how many people have invested and are ready to invest only after many others invest.
(b) Few want the plantation to be completed and only post which they feel comfortable to invest.
We as a company understand and accept the insecurity nature of the customers and customers cannot be blamed as the past experiences have not been good in many cases. However, as a company we need the initial investors to invest in order to answer these questions and to reach the plantation stage.
On the other hand we have investors who can analyse the capacity of the team and the project details at the initial stages and can start investing. STEP-UP pricing module helps an organization in such situations. The pricing in such modules purely depends on the development/s done in the project and the Risk vs Reward ratio.
For example our pricing spreads between Rs 116, to 125, 150, 165, 185, 210,235 and finally to Rs 285 per SqYd. Anyone buying at any stage get the same final benefit of 4crs.
The difference in the initial investment pricing helps the customer decide as to which stage they want to accept entering the project and properly compensates the initial risk takes as per the Risk vs Reward ratio.

for further details,

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What is carbon credits and how do we customers financially benefit from it?

What is carbon credits and how do we customers financially benefit from it?

As nations have progressed we have been emitting carbon, or gases which result in warming of the globe. Some decades ago a debate started on how to reduce the emission of harmful gases that contributes to the greenhouse effect that causes global warming. So, countries came together and signed an agreement named the Kyoto Protocol . This is the largest portfolio for any country signatory to the United Nations Framework of Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC). The UN body certifies countries and companies that can trade in carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol.
The Kyoto Protocol has created a mechanism under which countries that have been emitting more carbon and other gases (greenhouse gases include ozone, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and even water vapour) have voluntarily decided that they will bring down the level of carbon they are emitting to the levels of early 1990s.
Developed countries, mostly European, had said that they will bring down the level in the period from 2008 to 2012. In 2008, these developed countries have decided on different norms to bring down the level of emission fixed for their companies and factories. India, China and some other Asian countries have the advantage because they are developing countries. Any company, factories or farm owner in India can get linked to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and know the 'standard' level of carbon emission allowed for its outfit or activity. The extent to which I am emitting less carbon (as per standard fixed by UNFCCC) I get credited in a developing country. This is called carbon credit.
These credits are bought over by the companies of developed countries -- mostly Europeans.
Siri Agri Group has outsourced this opportunity acquisition to various brokerage companies and the final benefit negotiations is ongoing.

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Who is Dr. H S Anantha Padmanabha ?

Who is Dr. H S Anantha Padmanabha ?

Dr.H S Anantha Padmanabha, the forestry consultant, is an expert on sandalwood cell biology, who mastered the technology of artificial raising of sandalwood. A scientist of 40 years experience in forestry in India, he had worked as a senior scientist at the Institute of Wood Science and Technology in Bangalore (India) from 1964 to 1998 and was responsible for guiding research projects on sandalwood and other forestry species including but not limited to techniques of growing sandalwood and decease and pests affecting forestry tree species.
Currently he is a Director of Karnataka Research Foundation and Advance Technology Transfer, Bangalore, Consultant to Tropical Forestry Services Western Australia, consultant to Forest Rewards, Western Australia, and had served as consultant to Department of Conservation and Land Development (CALM) and Forest Product Commission (FPC) Government of Western Australia from 1998 to 2002. He is honorary consultant to Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd, Bangalore, assisting and providing guidance to farmers, corporate bodies and NGO’s in growing sandalwood in India.
He has co-authored books on sandalwood and have published over 150 publications in both Indian and International journals. He was designated as chief Technical Advisor for sandalwood projects with the World Bank FREE project (ICFRE) Government of India. He is currently appointed as the chief technical scientist for this project . Many articles have been written about him.

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